[EX] Procedure for upgrading Virtual Chassis

Standard Procedure which requires downtime for entire EX8200-VC

To upgrade the entire EX8200-VC from the XRE Primary device, perform the following procedure:

Look for the Junos image to download, for the release you wish to upgrade, at the following link:
http://www.juniper.net/support/downloads/junos.html
Note: The size of the XRE package is 300+ MB. It contains the software image for the XRE-200, as well as the EX8200's. The purpose of this large package is to ensure that with one package, you will be able to upgrade the entire EX8200-VC with a single reboot. This includes both XRE's and EX8200 Primary and Backup Routing Engines.

Upload the package to the /var/tmp/ directory on the Primary XRE-200 device.

Add the package on the primary by using the following command:

root> request system software add /var/tmp/jinstall-ex-xre200-11.4R1.6-domestic-signed.tgz Checking pending install on member9 Checking pending install on member0-re0 Checking pending install on member0-re1 Checking pending install on member1-re0 Checking pending install on member1-re1 Checking pending install on member8 Pushing bundle to member9 Pushing bundle to member0-re0 Pushing bundle to member0-re1 Pushing bundle to member1-re0 Pushing bundle to member1-re1 Validating on member9 Validating on member0-re0 Validating on member0-re1 Validating on member1-re0 Validating on member1-re1 Validating on member8 Done with validate on all virtual chassis members member9: WARNING: A reboot is required to install the software WARNING: Use the 'request system reboot' command immediately member0-re0: WARNING: A reboot is required to install the software WARNING: Use the 'request system reboot' command immediately member0-re1: WARNING: A reboot is required to install the software WARNING: Use the 'request system reboot' command immediately member1-re0: WARNING: A reboot is required to install the software WARNING: Use the 'request system reboot' command immediately member1-re1: WARNING: A reboot is required to install the software WARNING: Use the 'request system reboot' command immediately member8: WARNING: A reboot is required to install the software WARNING: Use the 'request system reboot' command immediately

Reboot the entire EX-8200 VC by using the following command:
Juniper@root> run request system reboot all-members
After the reboot, all of the EX8200-VC's will come up with the new Junos Software installed.

NSSU (Nonstop Software Upgrade)

You can also upgrade the software on an EX8200 Virtual Chassis, by using the Nonstop Software Upgrade (NSSU) method. Unlike a standard software upgrade, NSSU does not require a reboot of the Virtual Chassis. Instead, it takes advantage of graceful Routing Engine switchover and nonstop active routing (NSR), to ensure that no disruption to the control plane occurs during the upgrade.

You can minimize disruption to the network traffic by defining link aggregation groups (LAGs), in such a way that the member links of each LAG reside on different line cards. The line cards are upgraded one at a time, so that the traffic continues to flow through the other line cards when a line card is being upgraded.

For more information, refer to the following links:

Knowledge Base